Jeff Schwartz 1972 Chevy Vega - Invegarated

Jeff Schwartz builds nice cars for a living. His company, Schwartz Performance in Woodstock, Illinois, is known for its high-end Pro Touring machines. The Vega featured here? He threw it together from shop debris in his spare time-just for fun, an almost tongue-in-cheek project. But it seems Jeff can't build a POS even when he tries: The low-buck bomber is a hit wherever it goes, including the Holley LS Fest and the Chicagoland Goodguys show. Everyone who sees this car falls in love with it. And rightly so-it's a slick little unit. And he's got only $10,000 in it.

2/8At the '10 Holley LS Fest in Beech Bend, Kentucky, the Vega took Third in the autocross. Earlier in the year it scored Second in Car Craft's Real Street Eliminator event, dusting a number of high-priced machines.

Jeff started with a '72 Vega notchback coupe he scored for $1,500. A buddy had been sitting on it, planning to install an LT-1, but that never happened and he managed to pry the car away. For a Rustbelt Vega, it was in excellent shape, an ideal candidate for Jeff's scheme: a low-cost LS swap. The interior required mainly a good scrubbing, while the exterior was treated to a quickie scuff-and-spray in GM Dark Orange Metallic, close to its original color.

The LS V8 fell into place, more or less, in much the same manner as the old small-block V8-to-Vega swaps. The heater core was rotated 180 degrees to move the pipes out of the way, for instance, just like they did it back in the day. A Turbo 350 transmission was bolted in place, an ideal choice given both the low-buck theme and the main purpose Jeff had in mind for the Vega: autocrossing. The brakes and rear axle are from an S-10 Xtreme pickup. The front antiroll bar is from Addco, while the rear is S-10, but Jeff made them adjustable by adding spherical end joints.

Rodders of a certain age will remember those original V8 Vegas-and to be perfectly honest about it, not altogether fondly. They were awesome in a straight line but nearly useless at anything else. In no way does that describe this Vega. Jeff used his chassis-tuning skills to produce a car that works great virtually anywhere: street, road course, autocross, dragstrip. "My thoughts were to put together a lightweight car that would dominate tight autocross courses and would be built on a tight budget," he says. He certainly met those goals, but who knew a Vega could also be so adorable?